New COVID-19 spikes across urban areas to every corner of California | News

Los Angeles — The fall COVID-19 surge is widespread not only in major cities such as Los Angeles, but throughout California and even in the northernmost rural areas of the state. This is a nasty sign as the state faces the biggest challenges from the pandemic. ..

Most California counties are currently suffering from the worst coronavirus infection rate of any COVID-19 epidemic, withdrawing the state’s first reopening at the end of spring, according to Los Angeles Times data analysis. It even outweighs the summer surge that forced the authorities.

Data suggest that California will face new challenges in December if the unprecedented increase in cases continues. In the early stages of the pandemic, different parts of California may support more devastated areas, such as San Diego County and San Francisco accepting patients from Imperial County. But that can be difficult with this wave. Pandemics are worsening at the same time in most parts of California.

“We can’t rely on the neighboring county because it’s exposed to the same stress and tension,” said Dr. Marty Fenstershake, COVID-19 inspector in Santa Clara County. “They can’t provide us with beds in their county, so we’re ourselves, and our hospital is hurt at this point.”

The Times analysis also found that the coronavirus had to escape from dense urban areas and rural rural areas, infect essential workers (mostly Latino), and leave home to work. Is shown.

Currently, the infection is spreading more rapidly in other communities. In Marin County, health officer Dr. Matt Willis said the pandemic no longer only struck predominantly Latin communities. Well, just last month, “most of the cases are among our white residents,” Willis said.

“We are finding a larger proportion of those cases among the people gathered indoors, and since they are based on personal choice, a more rational option to avoid their exposure. There may be, “Willis told the supervisory board. “It’s the most disappointing that it’s driving it, but it’s not a matter of economic need, so it’s also encouraging because we think it’s a more controllable behavior for people. “

Just last week, a record average daily coronavirus case rate hit LA and other hotspots such as San Bernardino and San Diego counties. According to a Times analysis, hospitals are starting to fill up and have already received a lot of attention in the last few weeks. In some cases, the number of daily deaths is increasing. The crisis has only worsened exponentially in the last few weeks.

Many other counties, including Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Sacramento, San Mateo, Solano, and Santa Cruz, also have record average daily cases observed last week, according to a Times analysis. Northern California counties, such as Napa County, have also recently hit record highs. Yolo County, home of the University of California, Davis. Nevada, Placer County, and El Dorado County stretch from the suburbs of the state capital to Lake Tahoe. The low-population Mariposa County, home of the Yosemite Valley.

According to a Times analysis, more than 23 million Californians living in 31 counties are now becoming the worst wave of a pandemic.

Throughout California, the seven-day average of coronavirus cases per day has more than quadrupled since mid-October, reaching less than 3,000 to nearly 14,000 per day as of Wednesday. In just two weeks, the average daily death toll has doubled. As of Wednesday, California’s COVID-19 deaths have increased from an average of 38 per day to an average of 74.

As of Thursday morning, more than 1.16 million cases of coronavirus were identified in California, with approximately 19,000 deaths, according to the Times Coronavirus Tracker.

Authorities warned the entire state, from the Mexican border, where Imperial County officials installed a 50-bed overflow medical tent to handle the surge in patients, to Shasta County, the northernmost part of the state. It is quarantined and quarantined in thousands.

In addition to Shasta County, other counties that have recorded record high average daily case rates since November 18 include Calaveras, Del Norte, Glen, Humboldt, Lassen, Mendoshino, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Includes Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Chuolam and Yuba County. Times analysis found.

Coronavirus infection rates in Los Angeles County are the highest since the first few weeks of the pandemic. Authorities now estimate that on average, all infected people will infect 1.27 others with the virus.

“Since the first mid-March of the pandemic, we haven’t seen such a high (transmission rate) in Los Angeles County before preventive or safety measures were implemented,” said Dr. Christina Garry. Los Angeles County Medical Services.

This is a particularly disastrous number, given that the 7-day average of new daily coronavirus cases in LA County is around 4,300. The county is now doubling the number of new daily cases of coronavirus in two weeks and quadrupling in one month, Ghaly said.

Just last week, nearly 200 new hospitals in LA County were admitted daily. According to Garry, this is currently hospitalized up to nearly 300 people daily. If the transmission behavior of the disease does not change dramatically immediately, LA County hospitals can see somewhere from 375 new admissions per day to 1,000 per day.

Hospital capacity can skyrocket, but “the capacity of hospitals to surge and open additional beds is not infinite,” Ghaly warned. There are a large number of nurses and doctors trained to perform intensive care.

Even nursing homes are seeing more cases. In a comment to the Los Angeles County Supervisory Board on Tuesday, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said, “Many residents are medically vulnerable and at high risk of serious risk. Corona among skilled nursing facility staff and residents. The number of cases of the virus is increasing. ” Illness and death due to COVID-19. “

Last week, Feller said on Monday that the county reported an additional 842 cases of new coronavirus among health care workers.

“This is the maximum number of weekly cases we’ve seen for a very long time, and it’s a nasty increase because it represents the huge number of new cases reported most recently among healthcare professionals.” Said Feller. “The best way for each of us to express our gratitude is to take immediate action to stop the spread of the virus.”

The number of occurrences is also getting worse. From Halloween to mid-November, Los Angeles County saw a 67% increase in workplace outbreaks and tripled outbreaks in food facilities, including restaurants, food processing facilities, grocery stores, bottling factories, and other food-related businesses. I reported that.

According to Times analysis, case rates in some parts of the state are well above the levels seen since the summer months.

Over the past seven days, Southern California counties have reported 40 daily coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants on average over a seven-day period. This was almost 50% higher than the summer peak, the highest in 28 coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants per day in July. It is even worse in rural areas, the northern third of the state, with case rates jumping from an average of 12 in August to an average of 48 per 100,000.

Cases in the Sacramento region and the Central Coast increased by 57% and 22%, respectively, above the highest levels seen in mid-August. The San Francisco Bay Area in nine counties reported an average of 18 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per day, consistent with the peak of summer.

The region, including San Joaquin Valley, Eastern Sierra and Yosemite, is the only region with a lower case rate than the very bad summer waves. These counties reported an average of 37 coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants, well below their previous peak of 55. However, case rates in this section of Central California’s interior are still increasing at a dramatic pace, as in most other regions. Status.

Bay Area officials warned that a sharp surge in the area could also maximize hospital capacity if things didn’t change quickly.

“Even in our county hospital, ICU beds are strained,” warned Santa Clara County supervisor Cindy Chavez.

As the country’s busiest shopping day approaches before Christmas, Silicon Valley officials have stepped up to ensure that stores comply with capacity limits and people wear masks to prevent crowd formation. He said there would be enforcement efforts made. Retailers are the most restrictive COVID-19 tier, where 95% of Californians live, and can only open up to 25% of California’s county capacity.

“We don’t want the crowd. The crowded situation drives the spread of COVID,” said James Williams, a county adviser to Santa Clara County.

Authorities had previously issued warnings, but super-large inspectors, including firefighters, will begin issuing fine citations.

“We can save lives,” said Tony Bowden, chief of the Santa Clara County Fire Department, by helping to implement these pandemic regulations.

Authorities feared that significant vacation trips would exacerbate the coronavirus infection, as it happened during the Chinese New Year, fueling the spread that brought the infectious virus to the world.

“I’ve heard very disastrous data that people are traveling, which is not good,” said Fenstershake, a COVID-19 inspector in Santa Clara County. The vaccine is likely to be available in just a few months, so he urged the general public to postpone the rally for just a few months longer.

(Times staff writer Ryan Menezes contributed to this report.)

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